Some commentators have dismissed the strike, saying that fast food jobs were never meant to be real careers, and that minimum wage, food service gigs like these are just a stepping stone to bigger and better things. The problem is that fast food jobs are for-real jobs for many workers. As the infographic below shows, flipping burgers isn’t just a way for high school students to make a few extra bucks.

Jen Hubley Luckwaldt

Jen Hubley Luckwaldt writes about work-life balance, stress management, and other topics relating to what makes us happy at work. A full-time freelancer, she deals with stress by blurring the lines between life and work to the point where the two spheres are barely separate. The happiest day of her career was when scientists proved that looking at pictures of cute animals makes us more productive.